Prior to the present invention, cargo shipping containers have been supported on and connected to railway type flat cars, flat bed trucks or other lading type transport vehicles. The devices normally used as supports for these shipping containers consisted of pedestals which were manually adjustable along the length of the deck portion of the transport vehicle to be used. The adjustment required normally will depend upon the length of the container to be supported.
However, because the locking mechanisms used to secure such shipping container to such support pedestal are supplied by different manufacturers, these pedestals will not work with each style locking mechanism presently available for use in this application in the transportation industry. Such pedestals normally support the shipping container adjacent its corners, however, where specific operating conditions are encountered in which additional support is required, such pedestals have been used to support the shipping containers intermediate the ends thereof as well as at the corners.
As is generally well known in the art, these shipping containers can be of various forms and lengths. If, for example, such shipping containers are to be used at sea, then they may require a special shape.
Further, the flat cars used for transporting the shipping containers on land have, in most cases, been adapted to carry more than one such shipping container. In some instances, for example, such shipping containers are even stacked two high on the cars. This is particularly the case in the railway industry where rail cars have been specifically designed for use in this particular application.
Examples of pedestal type shipping container locking devices and supports are taught in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,430,032; 4,597,701 and 4,844,672.
Taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,430,032 is a shipping container retaining apparatus designed for a transporting vehicle having a flat deck. This particular retaining apparatus requires that the shipping container have a corner fitting disposed on at least each of the four corners thereof. Additionally, these corner fittings are required to be in substantially the same horizontal plane. These corner fittings include a slot-like portion which receives a latch lever therein for locking the shipping container to the deck portion of such transport vehicle. A separate support pedestal is provided which releasably supports each corner of the shipping container. Such support pedestal includes a frame having a base, a platform spaced above the base, and end and sidewalls extending vertically of such platform and conforming to a corner fitting as the shipping container is lowered onto the platform. One of the sidewalls includes a slot-like portion formed therein which extends vertically therealong. A latch lever extends along the slot-like portion between parallel walls forming such slot-like portion. A variable pivot for the latch lever is provided. Such variable pivot enables pivoting such latch lever between parallel walls of the slot-like portion so that the latch lever can move into the slot-like portion and into latching engagement with an associated corner fitting on such shipping container. The latch lever has an inwardly extending upper end portion. Such upper end portion has an upwardly facing strike surface and a lower end portion of such latch lever extends a substantial distance beneath the platform. A compression spring engages the lower end portion of the latching lever to bias such latching lever to engage the strike surface with a corner fitting as a shipping container is lowered onto the platform. Such compression spring has a movable seat member disposed adjacent the lower end of the latching lever and a saddle member disposed on the end opposite the movable seat member. Such saddle member being adjacent the lower end portion of such latch lever. A stationary seat member is provided for at the outer end of such compression spring. The saddle member is positioned for bearing engagement with the lower end portion of &:he latching lever. The movable seat member for the compression spring includes a leg portion which extends along the compression spring for a portion of the length thereof and a lock bar member engageable with such leg portion which reacts against the movable seat member and an adjacent wall defining a slot. This prevents compression of the spring and thereby securely locks the latch lever from accidently moving to an undesired release position during service.
A fastener for engagement with a corner casting of a shipping container to secure such shipping container to a flat support of a transport vehicle is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,597,701. As taught therein, such corner casting is hollow and has a planar surface abutting and parallel to such flat support of the transport vehicle. Such fastener includes a hook member adapted to penetrate an aperture defined through the planar surface and a pivot means coupling the hook member to such flat support. Such pivot means is movable parallel to the planar surface relative to the flat support thereby enabling movement of the hook member from a first position outside the corner casting disposed on such shipping container to a second position of penetration of the corner casting. In this manner, restraining a wall of such corner casting between the hook member and flat support is achieved. Such pivot means maintains a constant spacial interval from a pivot point to the planar surface during all positions of penetration of the hook member into such aperture. In this manner, during operation, the movable pivot allows the point of attack of the hook member penetrating into the aperture to be varied to match the position and orientation of the aperture. Such penetration of the aperture by the hook member is accomplished without towards and away movement of such pivot point from such planar surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,844,672 teaches a wide body shipping container adapted for engagement with standard width shipping container supports mounted on various types of vehicle carriers by providing a plurality of adapters moveably mounted with respect to supporting points on the bottom of the wide body containers. Each such adapter is movable to a position below the shipping container supporting point and engageable therewith in a manner that defines a new supporting structure. Such new supporting structure is spaced laterally inward from the outer most surface of the wide body shipping container so as to permit coupling of the container to a standard width container support.